nd by shepherds in the 8th century.Endless Travel / Alamy Stock PhotoLATIMES.COM/TRAVEL SUNDAY, AUGUST 25, 2019L5
they would return. Christians were
reluctant to live in a Jewish neigh-
borhood, choosing to build around
and then over the houses.
El Call was buried and forgotten
until the 1970s, when remnants of
the famous rabbi Nachmanides’
yeshiva were discovered as one of
the buildings was being turned into
a restaurant.
Now it is the heart of a city that
looks like a fairy tale and reads like
a history book. And, I feel obligated
to add, where Arya finally outwit-
ted the Waif.
Our tour ended at Rocam-
bolesc, a famous gelateria with a
truly amazing Hand of Jaime Lan-
nister popsicle, and then we had to
leave Girona. It was our final desti-
nation on a weekend road trip up
the Costa Brava, and Danny had
class on Monday morning.Along the Costa Brava
You could spend several days
exploring the towns along the
Costa Brava, Spain’s spectacular
northeast coastline. For our first
weekend, however, we made stops
at Tossa de Mar, where we admired
the beach and then climbed up to
its castlelike Vila Vella (Old Town),
the remains of a 14th century forti-
fied town that towers over the az-
ure water.
On our way up, we encountered
a lovely bronze statue of Ava Gard-
ner. The 1951 film “Pandora and the
Flying Dutchman,” in which she
starred with James Mason, was
filmed here.
On our way back to our car, we
stopped at Supermercat Parés for
some of the best sandwiches in the
world (many types of Spanish ham,
but even the turkey is good) and
headed for Cadaqués.
Cadaqués, a beautiful white
splash of a seaside town (where
Salvador Dalí vacationed), is on a
gorgeous and peaceful bay. It can
be reached only by a mountain
road with so many twists and turns
that I had to lie in the sand for
many minutes after driving it.
We didn’t have time to do much
else besides paddle in the cool,
calm water and wish we had not
tried to jam so much into one daybefore leaving for Girona.
If we had it to do over again, we
would have spent the night in
Cadaqués and made Girona a
separate two-day trip. It is only 45
minutes from Barcelona by train,
but I would recommend spending
the night because there is so much
to see.
For our second weekend, we
made a trip to Monistrol de
Montserrat, where a Benedictine
abbey, nestled among mountains
of unearthly beauty, houses one of
the few black Madonnas in Europe.
Getting there is half the fun:
From Barcelona’s Espanya sta-
tion, ticket packages include a
train to either a cable car or a rack
railroad up to the monastery. It
takes well over an hour, and you’ll
want to spend as much time as pos-
sible in Montserrat walking the
trails and visiting the grottos, art
museum, monastery and basilica.
Montserrat means “saw moun-
tains,” which does little justice to
the rock formations that rise pink
and gray like smooth fingers and
thumbs, cradling the Santa Maria
de Montserrat Abbey (as well as
several hotels, restaurants, giftshops and an art museum) as if in
the hands of God.
The monastery is not old by
area standards; it was founded in
the 11th century but was rebuilt in
the 19th, about the same time the
basilica was finished. It is an un-
earthly place; even with the hotels
and tour buses, ancient forces
make themselves felt — and not
just to the faithful.
According to legend, which was
first recorded in the 13th century,
Monserrat’s black Madonna, or La
Moreneta, was found in the 8th
century when shepherds saw a
great light, accompanied by sing-
ing, coming from the mouth of a
cave. When they gathered the
courage to investigate, they found
a 3-foot-high wooden and gilt stat-
ue of Mary, holding an orb in her
right hand and a young Jesus on
her lap.
It may have been carved in
Jerusalem before making its way to
Spain to be hidden during the
Moorish invasions but, as the story
goes, attempts to remove her from
Montserrat were thwarted. In one
version, the farther away she got,
the heavier she became.And so she stayed on the moun-
tain, answering prayers, healing
the infirm and attracting pilgrims
and tourists.
Which means, of course, there’s
a line to see her. But it’s a pretty
good line as lines go, wending
through a side entrance to the ba-
silica, past a procession of side al-
tars and up a staircase lined by fe-
male saints (virgin saints on one
side, married saints on the other).
Our Lady stands behind the
main altar, in a plexiglass box,
through which the orb extends to
be touched in prayer. A guard
stands by to ensure those prayers
are short and the line keeps mov-
ing.
Like any Mary raised Catholic, I
have an extensive prayers-to-our-
Blessed-Mother playlist, but on
this day, I was feeling more socio-
political than spiritual. The actual
mother of Jesus was no doubt some
shade of brown, yet pretty much ev-
ery one of the approximately
2,700,016 Madonnas I have seen are
lily white.
Yes, the ebony hue of La
Moreneta may be due to age rather
than intention, but I was thrilled by
the prospect of a Mary and Jesus
who looked, gilt robes and crowns
aside, a bit more historically accu-
rate.
But when I raised my phone to
take her picture, something in her
gaze stopped me. Depictions of
Mary are often joyful, sorrowful or
vaguely middle-distance serene.
But this one was ... different, and
not just in hue.
In her long, dark face was pa-
tience and expectation and, in the
gentle, almost humorous curve her
mouth, knowledge. It was as if her
wide-open eyes saw something
specific, something inevitable,
something worth waiting for.
All those centuries of pilgrims
and even the legends made perfect
sense — this Madonna would go
nowhere she did not want to go.
I was so moved that I did some-
thing I have never done: I bought a
replica. I do not see in my version
what I saw in the original, but it will
serve as a reminder of a place both
of and out of this world.l as locals who acted as extras in the HBO series. But there are plenty of other reasons to visit the historic city, including El Call, its well-preserved former Jewish quarter.bbsferrari / Getty Images / iStockphotoay for the region’s beauty
eastern Spain, but it was the day trips that had them falling in love with the region
If you go
THE BEST WAY TO
BARCELONA, SPAIN
From LAX,Norwegian flies
nonstop to Barcelona, and Air
Canada, American, United,
Delta, KLM, Air France,
Lufthansa, Swiss and Iberia
offer connecting service
(change of planes). Restricted
round-trip airfare from $617,
including taxes and fees.WHERE TO STAY
Hotel Peninsular,
6 Avinguda de Sant Francesc,
Girona, Spain; hotelpeninsular
girona.com/en. Doubles from
$94.
Casa Cundaro,
7 Pujada de la Catedral, Girona,
Spain; casacundaro.com.Doubles from $65.
Hostal Abat Cisneros,
Monestir de Montserrat,
Montserrat, Spain; bit.ly/
hotelabatcisneros.
Doubles from $131.WHERE TO EAT
Café le Bistro, 4 Pujada de Sant
Domènec, Girona, Spain;
lebistrot.cat. Dinner entrees
from $9.
Bau Bar, 8 Placa de la Catedral,
Girona, Spain; baubargirona.com.
Dinner entrees from $17.
Bar de la Placa, Placa de l’Abat
Oliba, Montserrat, Spain;
bit.ly/bardelaplaca.We had a nice
if a bit expensive meal at Bar de
le Placa.